Yosemite Park Campers Still Very Trepidatious

September 14, 2012 by Justin Leighty
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A stone’s throw from the cluster of tent cabins in Yosemite National Park where three victims of a deadly rodent-borne virus stayed earlier this summer, two tourists from the New York area were meticulously sorting their trash into sealed garbage bins while making sure that a ravenous-looking squirrel did not slip inside.

Like many of the thousands of other visitors to Yosemite National Park last weekend, Johanna Dieguez and Mildred Bennett came here with trepidation after the authorities announced last week that the third person had died from the worst outbreak of hantavirus in this park’s history.

The 91 affected “signature tent cabins” — located in Curry Village in Yosemite Valley, the park’s most popular area — have been closed indefinitely. But tourists like Dieguez and Bennett have been staying in the 413 other cabins in Curry Village that remain open.

The two had decided not to cancel a long-planned annual “girls’ trip” together. “They told us this area was not affected,” said Dieguez, who is from New Jersey.